Serenity Lost
by Gandalf1
Summary: A specter from the past wreaks havoc on Malcom, his ship and his crew.
1. Default Chapter

Serenity Lost  
  
Part 1.1  
  
Malcolm Reynolds lay sprawled on the ground, his senses swimming, his vision watery. There was a dull throb in his shoulder that grew stronger as he fought back to awareness. His eyes snapped open, and he propped himself up on his elbows, sitting up slightly. The action caused a loud groan to work its way up his throat as his shoulder screeched in agony, and he could feel the tearing of flesh there.  
  
The field around him was no longer the luscious green that it had been, the ground under foot, and body, so many of them, had been turned to mud. Boulders lay strewn about the field covered in stains of blood, or chipped by bullets. Trees littered the edges of the field, victims of the Alliance's sonic cannons.  
  
As the sun peeked one last look over the horizon before casting the land into darkness, Mal heard a roaring in his ears. It took a moment for him to realize that it was an Alliance dropship, roaring over the desolate field looking for survivors. He rolled to his knees, falling forward onto his hands, coughing up a mouthful of bile.  
  
The dropship moved on over the field, and Mal could hear voices of troops begin to canvas the broken field and bodies. He stumbled about on hands and knees, searching, half-blind, for his rifle. His fingers grasped steel and wood, and he recognized the familiar contours of his weapon. His fingers locked around it, as a hand grabbed him under his right arm, levering him off the ground.  
  
"Malcolm," a whispered voice said in his ear.  
  
"Tarnation, Zoe, you damn near scared me to death." Mal hissed at the dark skinned woman who was lifting him to his feet. Her face was dirty and bruised; her eyes had a haunted look as she studied her friend and the damage about them.  
  
"We need to get gone, Captain. Alliance troops are heading this way, we've got to fall back."  
  
Mal's eyes snapped back to focus, and he pulled himself away from Zoe, holding his weapon close, the stock tucked up under his arm. He scanned the field, and could make out a group of Alliance soldiers heading in their general direction, he and Zoe hadn't been seen yet, their black helmets and armor lending a dark fascist appearance to them.  
  
Zoe tugged at him as he brought his weapon up, and began firing at the approaching soldiers. In an instant the Alliance troops had spread out, dropping to the ground or behind cover, searching for and finding targets to return fire to.  
  
Malcolm Reynolds stood in the ruined field, his rifle firing over and over, until it clicked on an empty chamber. It clicked again and again, before he realized his clip was gone. The rifle fell to the ground unneeded as bullets and sonic pulses ripped the air and ground around he and Zoe.  
  
Before his rifle thudded into the mud he had grasped the six-shooter strapped to his thigh. Zoe had stepped up beside him, and was also firing at the Alliance soldiers. Mal fired over and over, ignoring Zoe's pleas to make a break for it.  
  
As the hammer clapped on an empty chamber, Zoe grabbed Malcolm's arm and tugged roughly at him. He stumbled back, just in time as bullets tore the air beside him.  
  
He swore in Mandarin as he and Zoe stumbled back across the field, just as an Alliance fighter squad soared overhead, laying heavy fire into the field. They stood at the edge of the field, hidden in the shadows of a still standing tree as they looked over the war-torn field.  
  
"Serenity," Zoe called the field by name. The Alliance had broken the back of the Independents, the battle had lasted days, siege after siege, until the Independents had been almost completely wiped out, cut off from supplies and replacements. The Alliance, however, seemed to have an almost inexhaustible supply of men and weapons.  
  
The two of them stood there, lost, before turning to race for one of the hidden rally points. As they did, the Alliance fighters had swooped back around towards them, and they could hear over the sound of pulses and blasts a name yelling across the field, "Reynolds!"  
  
An explosion rocked the two of them, sending them into darkness.  
  
  
  
Malcolm's eyes snapped open. Awake, aware. 


	2. 12

1.2  
  
Malcolm lay on his bunk, gathering his wits. His hand came away from his face wet, and he gave it a shake sending droplets of sweat across the darkened cabin. The voice from his dream still echoed in his head, as he rolled up to a sitting position, his feet swinging over the bed.  
  
He gave an involuntary gasp as the cold plastisteel deck of Serenity chilled his feet. Leaning forward, elbows on knees, he placed his face in his hands, rubbing it vigorously as if to erase the dream. He sighed into his hands before reaching out for the pair of pants hanging off the end of the bed.  
  
Slipping his feet into the legs he pulled them up to his waist, and tossed on a loose long sleeved shirt before pulling his suspenders up onto his shoulders. Stepping away from the bed he turned on the tiny sink in the corner of his cabin. A quick wave of his hand activated a trickle of water from Serenity's onboard wells. He patted the water against his face, gasping again as the water hit his face. Not nearly as cold a shock as the cold deck, but enough to completely rouse him from the memories that had resurfaced in his dreams.  
  
He tugged on his boots, one at a time, hopping about the cabin as he pulled them on one-handed. Then, running a quick hand over his thin face and through his short dark hair he stepped to the ladder that was the entrance to his cabin.  
  
He clambered up it, activating the cabin door at the ladder's zenith. It slammed shut again behind him as he moved into the corridor, which housed the crew quarters. He walked to the common/kitchen area hoping to find leftovers from the meal earlier that night, though he knew there wouldn't be.  
  
Shepherd however was still there; he was bent over the table, poring over something. Mal realized it was his bible. The preacher was going through it page by page, reading, repairing and erasing the damages that River, their Doc, Simon's sister.  
  
She was an odd bird, Mal thought, as he watched Shepherd tape a page back together, the man's long white hair, pulled back into its pony tail shook as Shepherd tried to contemplate the damage done to his precious book.  
  
"A little late night reading, Shepherd?"  
  
"Comforting and consoling an old friend, Captain," Shepherd replied, his dark skin crinkly in a self-indulgent grin.  
  
"She really did a number on your book there didn't she?"  
  
"The Book, Captain Reynolds, The Book."  
  
Mal shook his head, "You know I don't go in for all that God-talk preacher." He smiled to take the sting out of his words.  
  
Shepherd took a quick look at one of the chronos. "Little late isn't it?" Shepherd studied him for a moment. "Bad dream."  
  
"Nothing my mom's cookies and a warm glass of milk wouldn't fix." Malcolm stepped into the kitchen, and opened the crisper. "We really need to stock up," Malcolm shut the door, "no cookies."  
  
Mal took a quick look at one of the panels on the kitchen wall, giving it a few quick commands with his fingertips. "Eight hours before landfall," he said aloud.  
  
"How long are we going to be there, Captain? Because I seem to be out of tape." Shepherd closed the leather bound book with a grunt.  
  
"Just a few hours, long enough to meet our client, and load their cargo."  
  
"What is it, if I may ask?"  
  
"Dunno, but I reckon they gave me enough of a cash advance not to ask, and the payoff on the flipside is twice as good. Should be able to set Kaylee up with some extra fuel cells and plasma coils." Mal smiled, "and buy you some tape."  
  
He headed out of the kitchen and towards the upper deck; "I'll be in the cockpit if you need me." He climbed up the stairs and the door of Serenity's tiny bridge slipped shut behind him as he dropped into the pilot's chair, Wash's chair. He looked out at the stars sliding by, and the chrono on the main board counting down until landfall.  
  
He lost himself in the starfield, and tried to put the noises of war that were still haunting his head out of mind. He'd need to be focused before they reached Anterris, it was close to the core systems, and was in the process of being remodeled by the Alliance. 


	3. 13

1.3  
  
The stubby winged Serenity slipped quietly through space; imperceptibly it slowed and angled into the system. It whispered past the outer planets, its engines glowed as the firefly-class ship headed in towards a sliver and blue colored planet. Anterris.  
  
The door behind Mal clanged open and in stepped the ship's pilot, Wash. His short pointy red hair was amplified by the outlandish shirt he wore, Reynolds took a moment, staring at Wash and blinked at him slowly. " Impersonating a landing light?" Mal asked.  
  
"The lights are offline in our quarters, and Zoe wanted to keep track of where I was," Wash shot back, waggling his eyebrows. Cracking his fingers, he gestured to the chair Mal sat in, "Mother may I?"  
  
Malcolm stood, angling the chair so Wash could drop himself into it. His fingers danced a ballet across the main panel; bringing himself up to speed on their exact location, course heading and arrival time.  
  
Wash's eyes flashed over the tactical display of the ship, and noticed something missing. "Where's Inara's shuttle?"  
  
Serenity carried two shuttles; one Malcolm had rented out to a Companion. By doing so they generated extra income, and they gave themselves credibility; they carried a registered Companion with them.  
  
"She had an appointment on one of the outer planets, Ishni, I think." Malcolm said, as he stood next to Wash's chair, arms crossed watching the globe of Anterris draw closer. "She'll join up with us before we leave dock."  
  
"Hmmm, maybe," Wash said looking at one of the displays.  
  
"What do you mean?" Mal asked angling his head to look at the display screen.  
  
"There," Wash jabbed a finger at a screen, touching an angular shape that seemed to be rolling across the screen. "The id signal is that of the shuttle, she's tumbling. No engine activity, life support minimal."  
  
"Take us around, and let's grab her." Malcolm punched a communication panel, "Doc," he yelled, "Doc wake up, get prepped."  
  
The stars skewed wildly as Wash took Serenity off course and angled it back around in a wide arc racing towards the tumbling shuttle. "Don't over rev her, Wash."  
  
"She's ok, Cap'n." Wash twisted the controls and adjusted speed quietly.  
  
Steps echoed up the stairs behind the cabin, and the door was flung open as a firebrand of a young woman came racing in. "What are you doing to my engines?" Kaylee yelled, brushing a length of hair off of her face.  
  
"Going after Inara, her shuttle's offline, and it looks like there's been some trouble."  
  
A quiet fell over the trio as the scarred surface of the shuttle tumbled into view through the bridge windows. Its lights were off, and it spun freely, slowly, on all axis, revealing every inch of the craft, burn marks covered it.  
  
"What happened?" Kaylee whispered. 


	4. Serenity Lost 14

1.4  
  
Malcolm looked out the open airlock at the spinning starfield. There directly across from them was Inara's shuttle, it appeared to be no longer spinning as Wash had brought them in close and copied the shuttle's tumble. Now the vast stretch of space beyond them seemed to be spinning, like being on a merry-go-round, Mal thought.  
  
He swallowed a wave of nausea and instead looked right across at the steady shuttle. A long tow cable stretched past to connect to the craft. Jayne stood beside him, squeezed into one of Serenity's pressure suits and helmets. The big bulky man had a large gun; it had fired the tow cable at the shuttle with deadly accuracy.  
  
The towline ran from ship to ship, and Mal stepped close to it, ignoring the hiss of recycling air in his own suit. The faceplate of his helmet was slightly fogged, and he reminded himself to have Kaylee go over the suits when they got back. He lifted one foot off the deck of the airlock and stepped forward, hearing it clank and lock on to the plastisteel floor.  
  
"Wonder what happened to the little whore," Jayne said not unkindly.  
  
Malcolm spun, as quickly as he could in the pressure suit, and fixed Jayne's goateed face with a glare. He hated the use of that word, no matter what Inara did as a profession. Jayne caught the steely glint of Reynold's eyes and appeared properly chastised. Mal reminded himself to keep an eye on him, especially after the incident at the core world Alliance hospital.  
  
Jayne's shoulders rose up and down in an exaggerated shrug, "I meant the shuttle." A sheepish grin lined his broad face.  
  
"Let's just get her safely stowed," Mal said as he clapped a handgrip and lifeline to the tow cable.  
  
"Aye sir," Jayne's voice muttered over the helmet's intercom.  
  
Mal thought he heard the sharp intakes of breath in his helmet as those on the bridge watched him push off from the open airlock. The handgrip he held onto had a small gas canister attached to it, when Mal pressed the trigger on the grip, a burst of gas propelled him forward, out into the vast empty space between Serenity and the shuttle.  
  
In every direction blackness fell away from him, stretching away to infinity. The burst from the handgrip pushed him along the tow cable and he focused his attention on the shuttle as it slowly drew closer.  
  
He heard Jayne muttering quietly behind him on the towline, he wasn't sure exactly what he was saying but he did make out the words mud-planet. "You alright back there?" Mal asked, his eyes never leaving the approaching mass of the shuttle as he zipped along the towline.  
  
"I don't reckon I care for this contraption," Jayne growled.  
  
"Kaylee said they'll be fine," Mal replied.  
  
The intercom hissed and Kaylee came on babbling techno-speak and design specifications to explain the handgrips. "We get it. We get it, Kaylee," Mal said trying to interrupt. "Can you keep the channel clear?"  
  
The silence from the other end conjured the image of Kaylee standing on the bridge with a pout twisting its way across her face. Mal chuckled lightly as he slid up against the surface of the shuttle.  
  
He unclasped the handgrip and lifeline, hiking it to the outer airlock door of the shuttle, moving out of the way for Jayne. He turned his body, so he could Jayne's approach. For a moment he thought he saw a release of gas from the handgrip, and watched as Jayne speeded up a touch. A grin stretched across his face as he saw the momentary panic hit Jayne's face as Mal watched him realize he had overestimated the burst. A moment later, Mal felt, rather than heard, the impact of Jayne's body hitting the surface of the shuttle.  
  
A dull groan came over the intercom, and he thought he could faintly hear Wash, Kaylee and Zoe making snide comments on the bridge. Jayne swore painfully in Mandarin as Mal turned and punched in the manual override code for the shuttle's outer airlock.  
  
Moments later they were inside.  
  
"I hate when we have to do that," Jayne grumbled. 


	5. Serenity Lost 15

1.5  
  
Inara lay on the med-bed in the Serenity's tiny, and now crowded, sick bay. Simon worked over the shapely dark-tressed companion. Reynolds stood at the door, his crew arranged on either side, while Simon's sister, River, huddled down in the far corner eyeing the proceedings cautiously and fearfully.  
  
Kaylee stood beside Malcolm, listing items off on her fingers as she and Simon fought for his attention.  
  
"Stabilizers were offline, disconnected by the look."  
  
"Concussion, mild ligament tearing, lacerations."  
  
"Homing beacon offline, computer was reading it as non-functional."  
  
Inara gasped as Simon's prodded along her ribs, measuring and patching a hideous cut that had torn a gaping hole in her bodice. Her eyelids fluttered wildly and then she plunged back into unconsciousness.  
  
"Nothing life threatening."  
  
"Nothing permanently wrong, more like someone had just deactivated systems."  
  
"Just a few bumps and bruises now that's she's patched up. She should wake anytime."  
  
"Its like they were only looking to slow us down Captain, not really hurt the shuttle. or Inara" Kalyee finished for the both of them.  
  
Jayne looked from Simon to Kaylee, "I didn't understand any of that."  
  
Wash was about to say something, but a well-placed elbow from Zoe kept him quiet with a muffled grunt.  
  
"What that means is exactly what Kaylee just said," Malcolm said, "Someone is trying to slow us down." He turned to Wash, "How much longer?"  
  
Wash did a quick calculation in his head, "Landfall in about half an hour."  
  
"Anyway to speed it up?"  
  
Wash left sickbay tossing back, "I'm on it." Zoe jogged after him.  
  
"When will she wake up Doc?" Mal asked.  
  
"Not to sure, though it should be anytime now. I could try smelling salts, but I'd prefer to let her come around naturally."  
  
Malcolm looked at Inara's pale face, watching her for a moment. "We need to know who did this to her."  
  
Simon opened a small cabinet above River's head and grabbed the smelling salts. 


End file.
